Method of and apparatus for orienting well-holes



E. J. GRANT METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING WELL HOLES Filed Jan. 2, 1930 2 Shee'ts-Sheec 1 F IIII gwmnto'o May 22, 1934. J -r 1,959,666

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING WELL HOLES Filed Jan. 2, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M i-m oF-Fic'sissues t v .lll'rnon or arm manam Ion oamu'mo wan-nous m I. own, lee mango-m.

January 2, me, Serial No. 411.005 'iclaim. (mac-u)" hate the errors occasioned by the use oi the orm dinarymagnetic needle. 6

Furthermore, this. apparatus has the advantage that the magnetic needle operates freely on a liquid support instead of a'flxed-aupport.

The use of clockwork and other ap paratus has been obviated, device .extremely simple to assemble, and oi the container 11 and container 12;

interpret. V

An object is to disclose and provide im- 4 Another object is to disclose and provide a ,5 simple device which may be readily timed so as to become operative after any desired time interval, and accurately determine the angle anddirection of inclination of the well hole into which the device is introduced. 1

These and other objects and advantages of my improvement will more fully appear irom the following detailed description of a preferred form oi the invention.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown, for purposes of illustration,,one form which the apparatus used in the practice of my invention may assume.

In these drawings? Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of one form of device constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section of a portion of the device shown in Fig. 1.

I Fig. 3 is a transverse section, taken along the plane 3-3 indicated inFig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the compass employed. T g

Fig. 5 is a side elevation, partly'inlongitudinal section, of a modiiicd form 0!. device.

As shown in Fig.1, the device may comprise a tubular member 1 preferably made of some nonmagnetic substance, such as brass, and of such size as will fit snugly in the, bottom oi the well shaft. The lower portion of this housing or receptacle is preferably solid, as indicated at 2, or

proved method for determining both the angle adapted to receive a tube 26 which is attached to otherwiseweighteddownsoastopermitthedevice to be readily and quickly lowered.

Thebodyoi thehousingorreceptacle lprefer ably contains containers 10, 11, 12 and 13. The lowermost container is preferably provided Q with a central aperture 14 in alinement with apertures 15 and 16 in the lower portion of the container 11.

Meansjmay be provided for permitting air to escape fromthe lower container 10, such as for as example. a tube 17 extending from the upper portion'of the'container 10 to the upper portion of the -'container 11, oran air channelmay extend from the upper portion of container 10 and communicate with a groove or groovesin the outer suriace 70 The inner walls of chamber 11 may be painted was a reactive substance such as an alkaline or alkaline earth base paint which may or may not be colored. vOnly spaced portions of the inner 7s of the chamber 11 may be thus painted.

The same reactive paint may be employed insealing the apertures 15 and 18. The container 11 may then be partly filled with water, and a compass 18 suspended therein, said compass 18 being so preferably made of a light wood or cork having magnetic needles attached to its lower side.

The upper suriace of the compass 18 may be grooved, as indicated in Fig. 4, said grooves 19 being outwardly inclined toward the bottom of as the compass. The central aperture 20 in the compass may be provided with a small piece of glass tubing so as to lessen the friction be can a silken string 21, passing through said a rture 20, and the compasslii.

The string 21 may be attached to a small hook 22 iastened to the lower portion of chamber 12 and centrally thereoi. A suitable weight such as a glass ball 23 may be connected to the lower portion of the string 21 so as to maintain it taut. The compass 18 will thus float on the water in the chamber 11 and pivot freely about the string 21, as well as move longitudinally on said string. In this manner contact oi the compass with the sides of the vessel and capillary attraction between the compassand the sides of the'vessel are obviated.

The member 13 and a spacing block 24 may be 'positionedover the chamber 12, the members 13 and 24 being provided with a central aperture 25 ml a funnel or other suitable container 2'1. The container 2'! is preferably held within a cavity in the upper portion of the member 24.

The central apertures 25 of the members 13 and 24 may be provided $11611 recesses 28 adapted no to facilitate the removal of the members 13 and 24 by means of outwardly expanding finger members from the housing 1.

Means are provided for recording the orientation of the compass 18 with respect to the container 11. The funnel or other container 27 may be filled with acid or other reagent adapted to act upon the reactive material, paint, dye or coating employed on the inner surfaces of chamber 11. The tube 26 may conduct acid from the container 27 to a chamber 29 formed in the member 13.

The tube 26 may be filled with any finely divided material such as quartz, mineral wool and the like adapted to retard the flow of acid through the tube. A suitable fine mesh screen 30 may be attached to the lower edge of the tube 26 so as to prevent said filling or filtering material from escaping into the chamber 29. g The chamber 29 may be in communication with lower chambers by means of a siphon 31 adjustably mounted in a stopper 32 fitting into an aperture in the bottom of chamber 29. The longer arm of the siphon 31 is preferably in communication with a tube 33 which terminates in. a dropper cone 34. The tip of the dropper cone 34 is preferably in the same plane as the hook 22, for reasons defined hereinafter.

The lower portion of the tube 33 may be provided with apertures 35, and the upper portion of the inclined section of tube 33 may be provided with one large aperture 36. The apertures 35 may be temporarily sealed by means of the reactive paint or coating, as will be described hereinafter.

The chamber 12 may be provided with a plurality of apertures 37 near its outer limits, so as to permit liquid in the receptacle 12 to drain through the apertures 37 into the lower chamber 11.

In operation, the inner surfaces of chamber 11 are painted with the reactive substance, the apertures 15 and 16 are sealed by means of a reactive substance, the upper grooved surface of the compass 18 isalso painted with said reactive substance, and the openings 35 in the tube 33 are also temporarily sealed with such substance. A reagent such as acid is then placed into the container 27 and the general assembly sealed in place,

siphon 31 determines the length of time. which will be required to fill the chamber 29 to the height of the siphon 31 therein. The length of the shorter leg of the siphon 31 determines the quantity of acid discharged by it into the recording chamber or tube 33.

In practice, it is desirable that the device'reach the bottom of the well hole and become stationary for a period of say, five minutes, before the siphon 31 begins to discharge acid accumulated in chamber 29 into the tube 33.

During this period of rest, the compass 18 assumes a stationary position upon the water in chamber 11. As the siphon 31 begins to operate, it discharges acid into tube 33 and the first quantity of acid causes a drop to be discharged through the dropper cone 34 upon the edge of the compass disc 18. The acid reacts with the alkali or alkali base paint or covering on such compass, thus forming a definite mark thereon.

Immediately thereafter, the acid reacts with the paint or coating' covering the apertures 35, so that all of the acid thereafter flows through the apertures 35 into the container 12 from whence it is discharged by apertures 37 into the lower chamber 11. and particularly into the water in said chamber. The acidified water then reacts with the alkali or alkali earth base paint or coating on the walls thereof, definitely marking the level and the inclination of the surface of the fiuid in the chamber 11 upon the walls thereof.

Eventually, the acidified'water in chamber 11 reacts with the coating or sealing material over the apertures 15 and 16, and when such reaction has progressed sufficiently, the acidified water from chamber 11 is discharged through the apertures Hand 16.

The acidified water is thus discharged into the reservoir 10, air from such reservoir being allowed to escape to the tube 17 or in any other suitable manner, so as to prevent agitation of the acidified water in the recording chamber 11. The device may then be withdrawn from the well hole.

After the device described has been taken apart at'the surface, the inclination and direction of the well hole may be determined from the compass 18 and the record made on the inner surfaces of the recording chamber 11, such records being made as described heretofore.

It will be found that inasmuch as the compass 18 fioats freely on the surface of the liquid in the chamber 11, and is merely centered around the silken thread 21 which is maintained in the perpendicular by the weight 23, that the compass 18 more quickly and accurately comes to rest than when it is merely suspended from a pivot point or on a pivot point. The compass 18 is not subject to binding or stresses and the record of orientation obtained is true and accurate.

In assembling the various containers 10, 11, 12, etc., they are preferably coordinated with a line graved or painted on the inner and outer surfaces of the housing 1, said line being preferably in line with a radius or diameter passing through the string 21 and the center of the dropper cone 34. This method of orientation will assist in the interpretation of the results obtained.

The reactive material, paint, dye or coating constituting the reactive surface on the compass 18 and inner walls of the chamber 11 may be made from a mixture of lime, finely ground calcium carbonate or precipitated chalk, drier and coloring matter. Such paint is unaflected by water, but readily reacts with an acid. Acid paints may be employed, however, and then a strong causticor alkali solution may be substituted for the acid.

In order to prevent more than about one drop of acid from striking the compass 18 through the dropper 34, a small ball 39 may be cemented into place within the inclined portion of the tube 33 by means of the acid reactive paint. In this manner, as soon as acid has been discharged by the siphon 31 into the tube 33 and has flowed past the ball 39 into the cone 34, the ball 39 will be liberated andfall into the cone, thus preventing more than about one drop of acid to be discharged through the cone, and in this manner assuring a more accurate record to be made on said compass 18.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5, the acid from the container?! is discharged into a chamber 29' and from said chamber it is discharged by means of the siphon tube 31' into a container 40 provided with a central chamber 41, a siphon 42 and a shorter siphon 43. The siphon 42 may be connected to a capillary tube 44 in which a drop or acid 45 or of dye, ink or the like is positioned, said drop being preferably positioned in a downward curve of the tube 44.

The drop 45 will be retained in position in the tube 44 until the acid discharged by siphon 31 rises in the first leg of siphon 42 to a suflicient height to compress the air in the siphon 42 and expel the drop 45 through the tube 44 onto the upper surlace of the floating compass 18. Inasmuch as the siphon 43 is lower than the siphon 42, the acid will never pass through the siphon 42, but instead will be discharged through siphon 43 and then be discharged irom the container 12' through the apertures 37 into the water of the recording chamber 11,

Furthermore, the acidified water in the recording chamber 11 may be discharged through a plurality of ports 46 which had been temporarily sealed by means of a basic paint of the character described hereinbefore.

A groove 49 may be formed in the outer surface of the member forming the chamber 29, said groove connecting the chamber formed in the dispensing vessel 12' with the upper portion oi chamber'29, thus permitting air displaced by liquid filling chamber 29' to escape.

The receiving vessel 10 may be positioned above a vessel 47 filled with lead or some other heavy substance adapted to weigh the device. The upper end of the receptacle or housing 1 may be internally threaded, as indicated at 48, so as to permit its attachment to a string of sucker rods.

The numerous advantages of a device of the character describedwill be apparent from the description given hereinabove.

By suspending the compass in a chamber or housing 1 which is substantially oi the same diameter as the well hole, it is possible to employ a relatively large compass by means of which accurate readings may be obtained. Furthermore, by providing a movable center such as the weighted silken thread 21 around which the compass may ireely rotate, the disadvantages of fixed pivot points are obviated, and the compass kept tree of capillary contact with the sides of the "chamber.

11, for example, the compass 18 were to be directly suspended by means 0! a string from a suitable hook 22, then torsion stresses set up in the string and also vertical movements of the compass due to changes in level of water would impair the accuracy of the compass. Furthermore, by employing an alkaline base reactive material on the sides 0! therecording chamber 11, and in other portions of the device, a record is obtained without the use of extremely strong acids.

Furthermore, the arrangement of siphons and distributing ducts permits the device to be readily adiustedso that the scid'is discharged at any desired predetermined time and predetermined amount, without necessitating the use of clockwork or other complicated devices.

Although a particular method and apparatus have been described somewhat in detail herein, it istobeimderstoodthstlsmnotiimitedtosuch particular means and includes all such modifications and changes as comeI emwhin the scope of the appended claims.

method, but my invention,

1. In a method of orienting well holes, the steps of positioning a chamber containing liquid in a well hole, permitting a floating compass to come to rest on the surface of said liquid, and then nation of a container partially filled with a liquid,

a buoyant compass adapted to float on the liquid in said container, an axial aperture in said compass, and an axial member carried by said container and extending through said axial aperture in said compass, and means for recording at a predetermined time the orientation of said compass with respect to said container.

3. In a well hole surveying device, the combination of a container partially filled with a liquid, a buoyant compass adapted to float on the liquid in said container, an axial aperture in said compass, and an axial member carried by said container and extending through said axial aperture in said compass, said axial member being adapted to maintain said compass out of contact with the walls of said container, and means for recording at a predetermined time the orientation of said compass with respect to said container.

4. In a well hole surveying device, the combination of a container partially filled with a liquid, a buoyant compass adapted to float on the liquid in said container, an axial aperture in said compass, and a weighted axial member pivotally suspended in said container and extending through said axial aperture in said compass, and means for recording at a predetermined time the orientation of said compass with respect to said container.

5. In a well hole surveying device, the combination of a container partially filled with a liquid, a buoyant compass adapted to float on the liquid in said container, an axial aperture in said compass, an axial member carried by said container and extending through said axial aperture in said compass, and means for introducing a liquid into the container at a predetermined time to record the orientation of the compass with respect to the container.

6. In a well hole surveying device, the combination of a. reservoir for liquid, a container partially filled with a liquid positioned beneath said reservoir, a buoyant compass adapted to float on the liquid in said container, an axial aperture in said compass, an axial member in said container and extending loosely through said axial aperture and adapted to maintain said compass out oi. contact with the walls of the container, and means for recording at a predetermined time the 'orientation of said compass with respect to the conrespect to the chamber.

record of the orientation oi. said compass with mwma. m 

